Members of a leading business group are calling on Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to rethink plans for Making Tax Digital.

The UK200Group of independent accountants and lawyers has warned that the backlash against Making Tax Digital (MTD) could be just as great as the recent outcry over the rise in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for the self-employed - announced in the Budget and then dropped a week later.

Francis Whitbread, partner at UK200Group member firm Edmund Carr, said, "The Chancellor's u-turn on the proposed increase in National Insurance Contributions for the self-employed suggests that those advisers, civil service mandarins, or whoever suggested the policy to Mr Hammond in the first place, have no idea of what goes on in the real world of SMEs."

Whitbread added: "I have a nasty suspicion this is not the only case of Mr Hammond being misinformed. I wrote to the Chancellor before Christmas setting out a number of concerns about Making Tax Digital (MTD). I received a reply on his behalf from HMRC assuring me my fears were groundless. In the recently published consultation on MTD the concerns expressed by the accountancy profession over a number of areas were similarly ignored."

Whitbread had this advice for Philip Hammond: "If you want to avoid another embarrassment with MTD similar to the one you have just had over national insurance for the self-employed, consult with the people who really know, my fellow accountants and tax advisers, before it is too late."

Andrew Jackson, chair of the UK200Group Tax Panel and head of tax at Fiander Tovell, said: "The proposed NI changes would cost each self-employed person a few hundred pounds; HMRC's estimates are that MTD will cost each business £280, but this is clearly an underestimate. It would be a great shame if businesses are spared a hike in NI, only to have a more costly MTD burden foisted on them."

The UK200Group represents chartered accountants and lawyers who together work with over 150,000 SME clients, including charities, construction firms and healthcare businesses.

As inflation passes the Bank of England's 2% target for the first time since 2013, economists warn that higher prices are damaging real earnings and weakening the UK's growth potential.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit 2.3% in February, up from 1.9% in January.

It means that falls in real earnings have come sooner than expected, according to the Resolution Foundation. Its pay projection shows that real earnings growth fell to zero in February and is likely to have fallen further once figures for March are confirmed (between -0.3% and 0%).

"After 38 months inflation is back above the Bank's target, bringing to an end the era of ultra-low inflation that has boosted living standards in recent years," said Stephen Clarke, economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation. "Today's rapid increase is part of a wider trend with price rises set to be the big living standards story of this year. To date, pay settlements have failed to respond to rapidly rising prices, meaning there's a good chance pay packets are already shrinking in real terms."

Michael Martins, economist at the Institute of Directors (IoD), agreed that "real wages will likely have shrunk in the first quarter of 2017". He said: "The squeeze on disposable incomes will likely begin to eat into the UK's consumption-driven economic growth in the medium-term."

Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), also warned that "UK price growth is firmly on an upward trajectory".

He said: "The decline in the value of sterling, together with rising oil and other commodity prices, is likely to maintain the upward pressure on consumer prices in the coming months. We currently forecast that inflation will remain persistently above the Bank of England's 2% target over the near term, peaking at close to 3% in the second half of 2018.

Rising inflation is likely to damage the UK's growth prospects, he added. "Businesses continue to report that the rising cost of raw materials are squeezing margins, forcing many firms to raise their prices. Higher inflation is also likely to materially squeeze consumer spending in the coming months as price growth increasingly outpaces earnings growth."

The report is based on a survey of 400 gig economy workers and more than 2,000 other workers, as well as in-depth interviews with 15 gig economy workers.

It reveals that just 14% of respondents said they did gig work because they could not find alternative employment. The most common reason for taking on gig work was to boost income (32%).

Overall, gig economy workers are also about as likely to be satisfied with their work (46%) as workers in more traditional employment (48%).

However, nearly two-thirds of gig workers (63%) believe the Government should regulate to guarantee them basic employment rights and benefits such as holiday pay.

There were concerns raised by some workers about the level of control exerted over them by the businesses they worked for, despite the fact that they are classified as self-employed. Only four in ten (38%) gig economy workers say that they feel like their own boss.

Peter Cheese, CIPD chief executive, said: "This research shows the grey area that exists over people's employment status in the gig economy. Our research suggests that some gig economy businesses may be seeking to have their cake and eat it by using self-employed contractors to cut costs, while at the same time trying to maintain a level of control over people that is more appropriate for a more traditional employment relationship."

Other key findings include:

57% of gig economy workers agree that gig economy firms are exploiting a lack of regulation for immediate growth;

But 50% also agree that people in the gig economy choose to sacrifice job security and benefits in exchange for flexibility and independence;

Median reported income for gig work is from £6 to £7.70 per hour but 51% say they are satisfied with their income.

Peter Cheese said: "We are pleased that the Government has commissioned Matthew Taylor to lead a review of modern employment practices … the Government also needs to … clarify people's employment rights and enforce existing legislation better, such as supporting a 'know your rights' campaign, so more people are aware of what protection they can expect."

In February, Acas published new guidance on gig economy working and employment status rights.

New research from the Federation of Small Businesses has revealed the trade deals that smaller firms want to see in a post-Brexit world.

The latest FSB report, Keep Trade Easy: what small firms want from Brexit, shows that the top priority market for small firms is still the EU single market (63%). Nearly half (49%) of FSB members chose the US as a priority market and one in three (29%) named Australia. Other key markets include China (28%) and Canada (23%).

Researchers also polled FSB members about their views on future UK-EU tariffs. One in four (27%) exporting small firms said they would be genuinely deterred from trading with the EU should any tariff - no matter how low - be introduced.

Should the UK find itself trading with the EU under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules alone, exporters would face the EU's most-favoured-nation tariffs. One in three SME exporters say they would be deterred from trading with the EU if a tariff rate between 2% and 4% was introduced (the range within which the EU's average applied tariff tends to have fallen over the past few years).

The findings also show that small business exporters and importers also find non-tariff barriers (such as administrative burdens in dealing with customs) as important as tariffs.

At present, 58% of smaller firms find the EU single market easier to trade with than non-EU markets; the report also reveals that 45% of current exporters and 53% of current importers find trading with the EU single market cheaper than trading with non-EU markets - compared to only 9% and 8% respectively who find it more expensive.

Mike Cherry, FSB national chairman, said: "Small firms trade with countries based on ease, cost and value and any future trade deal must deliver on these key aspects both with the EU single market and non-EU markets. The reality is that the EU single market is still a crucial market for smaller firms and cannot be undervalued."

Cherry called for a new customs arrangement with the EU that allows for "frictionless" cross-border trade. He said: "The impact of potential tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade with the EU is shown to be a real concern for small businesses trading overseas, at the very time that the UK economy can least afford to see a slowdown in exports. FSB calls on the Government to secure the easiest and least costly access to the EU single market in the Brexit negotiations."